KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs began the first round of roster cuts by letting go 11 players before returning to the practice field Sunday.
Aug. 28, 2015; Kansas City, MO: Chiefs head coach Andy Reid watches players warming up before the preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
And the annual roster trimmings leading to the regular season has never proven a simple process for Andy Reid, who enters his 17th season as an NFL head coach.
“That’s the worst part of your job,” Reid said. “Letting guys go that have been out here. It’s different now, too, in that you have all these days in the offseason, so you get to know them even more than what it used to be.”
The Chiefs on Saturday cut ties with tight end Adam Schiltz, rookie cornerback Kenneth Penny and rookie guard Marcus Reed, according to sources and as previously reported by ChiefsDigest.com.
Kansas City made it official Sunday morning with Schiltz, Penny and Reed by including the trio in a press release announcing the waiving of offensive lineman Anthony Dima, rookie long snapper Andrew East, rookie wide receiver Kenny Cook, cornerback Aaron Hester, defensive lineman Vaughn Martin, rookie wide receiver Jeret Smith, rookie defensive tackle Charles Tuaau and wide receiver L’Damian Washington.
The Chiefs notified the 11 players on Saturday by design.
“It’s the player’s day off,” Reid said. “It can be a humbling thing and we’ve always felt it was best and it gives them an opportunity to hook on with another team soon.”
The roster moves come ahead of the league-wide deadline to trim rosters to 75 players by 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, and the team now has 79 following the cuts.
Four more players will learn their fate by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Reid said the depth on the roster entering the third year is deeper than when he first arrived in 2013, and he complimented general manager John Dorsey and Dorsey’s staff for bringing in players to build the team.
And with the depth, those not making the Chiefs’ roster should have options.
“There’s a great amount of competition,” Reid said. “So that normally brings out the best, thus they get on tape and on film. And these other teams can look at them and go, ‘You know what? This guy’s worth a shot.’”
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Herbie Teope is the lead beat writer and reporter for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @HerbieTeope.
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